Any reason BlackBerry had to stop using BIS for personal devices? I never understood why that had to happen.

Posted via CB10

A lot of people were complaining that BlackBerry phones needed a separate plan for everything to work when in other platforms, everything worked on normal data plans and wifi. Also in the developing countries (I can say about India) BIS was almost 3 times more expensive than normal data packs.

I cannot see a situation where the classic generates the interest of the passport.

No secret it is a budget device. Course I have passport and want one.

Posted via CB10

Me too. I know it's a downgrade but if it's quick enough I'll definitely use it because it will be smaller than the passport and do what I need it to do. I can honestly say I don't need this passport. But it sure is sexy.

I would like to believe that there are a million BES customers out there that have taken advantage of the EZ Pass upgrades to BES12 and are sitting on 3 & 4 year old BBOS devices waiting to upgrade.... but the truth is, if they wanted new hardware, the existing Q10, Z10 and Z30 are quite capable and much more reasonable for corporate users. And I doubt many of them would even realize they were using two year old devices. Plus I think the majority of users want all touch devices, so waiting for the Classic would not be an option.

Plus while some here like collecting ever BB device that comes out... those that got a Z30 or a Passport will not really find much in the Classic to appeal to them enough to justify spending that much.

And as the Passport has gotten close to the Classic's price with the sales.... I don't see many on a budget choosing the Classic over the Passport at launch.

But long term the Classic should outsell the Passport.... IF there really is as much interest from enterprise and Chen has led everyone to believe.

Just based on the Classic's broader target market and its (somewhat) lower price, you'd think that the Classic would sell many more units than the Passport has, but I'm not so sure.

Yes, I agree that there are keyboard lovers out there, but I think that this minority is shrinking and graying by the minute. But what bothers me more is that the Classic is about equivalent to the Q10, so maybe the Classic picks up people who need to switch devices as well as a few who really, really want the tool belt. But, with all of the deals offered on the well-respected Q10, most everyone who has really wanted something like the Q10, pretty much has a Q10. I mean, get real, if you were an IT department interested in going with BlackBerry as your fleet phone, why wouldn' you simply order the less-expensive Q10 instead of the Classic? Tool belt? Really?

I don't think so
I agree with the poster who stated that the final numbers will be determined by the enterprise market not the consumer market. But even then it's hard to believe that with both devices being offered to enterprise customers, the classic would be chosen over the passport. I hope it does well. It doesn't appeal to me.

I think the Classic will break the Passport's preorder numbers. It looks like at least Verizon will offer the Classic in the US. With the hint on BlackBerry's preorder page that the Classic will be on both CDMA and GSM networks, I think it's safe to say it will get more preorders.

The Q10 does not have a non-camera option and it looks like the Classic will have that option on Verizon. The non-camera smartphone market is a small market, but blackberry is the only one in that market.

Personal preferences does not matter if you work for a company that decided what phone you are going to carry. Only time will tell if the classic will out sell the Passport.

One way to support sales of the Classic and to motivate users of legacy BB devices to upgrade would be to offer a trade-in plan. I worry that it may take such an offer (or some other incentive) to get legacy device users to take action and migrate to BB10.